✔ || Save Me [[SEQUEL to DISTRACT ME]]

Chapter 41

Taehyung woke up the next day as if nothing had ever happened. Literally. If any of the other members mentioned his paralyzing ailment the day prior, he just shrugged and said that he must have been sick.

Jeongguk didn't buy it. None of them did, though the other members seemed to let it go in favor of giving the boy his privacy. But it hurt that he wouldn't even tell his boyfriend what was wrong.

"Hyung?"

Taehyung glanced over from the computer screen. The two of them were sitting in Jeongguk and his studio, and Taehyung was working on "Stigma." It was nearly finished, and Jeongguk was incredibly proud of the elder. The entire piece was a work of art, as if the boy had been writing music his entire life. Sure, he'd received plenty of help from their producers, but all of the boys did. Except maybe Yoongi. That guy was a machine.

"What is it, jagiya?"

Jeongguk snapped out of his tangential thoughts. "Please tell me what happened yesterday."

The elder frowned, "Nothing happened, jagiya. Sometimes old wounds hurt. That's a normal thing."

"It's not normal when it's that bad," Jeongguk insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Taehyung smiled gently, "I'm okay now, jagi, see? Here, come listen to this and tell me what you think."

Jeongguk obeyed, perching in the elder's lap and letting him set the headphones over his ears. The bass began to echo through his skull, sending a vibration down his spine. He loved everything about this song. It was, in a sense, Taehyung. It was his story. His heart. Jeongguk felt so incredibly special every time his boyfriend asked him to listen to it.

It was sad. Lonely. It was, as Taehyung told him one day when they were curled around each other post-sex in the chair they were sitting in presently, how he felt before he'd joined BTS and met Jeongguk.

The song ended three minutes later, and Jeongguk pressed the back of his hands against his eyes. Taehyung rubbed his back lovingly, and the maknae mumbled, "I seriously love this song, hyung."

Grinning, the elder said, "Good. I'm glad. I'd have to scrap it if you didn't."

Jeongguk giggled at that, but then sobered and worked up a bit of courage. Not much, but just enough to ask the question that was pressing against the front of his mind.

"Why don't you trust me?"

Taehyung worked his jaw, but he didn't seem surprised. That was kind of off-putting: that he wasn't surprised. "Are we playing the question game when we're awake now?"

The maknae stiffened at his condescending tone. "So you don't?"

"I do," Taehyung sighed heavily. "I promise, I do."

"Then why won't you tell me what's going on?" Jeongguk demanded, his irritation rising.

"Nothing's going on."

That was one wrong sentence too many, and it sent the maknae over the deepend. He hopped up and pulled stressfully at his hair.

"Stop fucking lying!"

They both froze, staring at each other. Jeongguk's outburst echoed in the room like a death sentence.

Taehyung pushed himself to his feet. "There are things that you still don't know, Kook. Things that I want to protect you from, so if I could just get a little trust and understanding -"

"Trust?" Jeongguk demanded. "Trust? We're supposed to be in this together! What happened to all that 'democracy' bullshit? Or is that all it was? Bullshit?"

"Jeongguk!" Taehyung snapped, slamming his hand down hard enough on the desk to make his glass of water tip over. "Shit."

Jeongguk silently helped him clean up the mess, neither of them looking at the other. There was little to use in terms of towels, so Jeongguk offered the oversized black hoodie he was wearing instead. He'd only worn a thin grey tank top underneath - it was spring, so he really shouldn't be wearing just that considering it was freezing outside - but he'd be okay. When they were finished, they stood silently. Jeongguk tossed his soaked hoodie aside to be forgotten, scratching the back of his neck. Taehyung's eyes followed the curve of his bare muscular arms when he thought the maknae wasn't looking. They still did not look at each other's faces, and the palpable quiet was only broken by the whirring fan buffeting in warm air from the vents above.

Finally, Taehyung said in a voice coated with exhaustion, "Please, Jeongguk. There are things that happen when angels Fall that I don't even want to face by myself yet."

Jeongguk hesitated, "And those...those episodes are part of that?"

Taehyung nodded, mute.

"What's going on, hyung?" Jeongguk pressed. "Please, I just want to help you."

The elder gazed at him sadly. "And I just want to protect you."

Jeongguk shifted from foot to foot. "Have -" he breathed, trying to calm his pounding heart "- have you called a therapist yet?"

Taehyung's eyes flashed irritatedly. "No, Kook, not yet. I haven't had time, what with being so busy trying to make you feel like a fucking king. But I'm sorry, your majesty, I'll make sure I do it right away."

With that, he sat back down and placed the headphones over his ears, signaling that he had nothing more to say.

Jeongguk stared at the back of his head helplessly. None of it made any sense to him.

His phone chirped, signaling he'd just received a text, and he unlocked it to find that Seokjin was sending him on a mission to retrieve snacks. And when the eldest brother demanded food, the dongsaengs obeyed. So, cursing silently, Jeongguk left the studio. Taehyung didn't even turn around to bid him goodbye.

Why were they fighting so much? It seemed like the second they returned from Purgatory, their relationship just couldn't seem to figure itself out. Even their day alone together hadn't fixed it. Jeongguk frowned at this. What was happening to them? It was like one thing after another was going wrong, and he couldn't seem to figure out what the catalyst was.

They were right for each other. There was no way they weren't. They had basically gone through hell and back together - they could make it through anything.

Right?